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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jan Crawley who wrote (36263)	1/23/1999 9:09:00 PM
From: H James Morris	Respond to of 164684

>>Probably borrow or steal first, before ordering from Amzn.<g> College students are "to Be's" and "want to be's"; they don't need convenience and services, they just need cash!!<< Jan, my girls always need cash. Trust me. >>TORONTO, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Canadian mutual fund investors will be hard-pressed to find Internet-specific funds, despite the dazzling returns the sector has recently heaped upon stock market players. Although most science and technology funds are salted with Internet-related companies, analysts said the sector is still too narrow and too risky to warrant a niche of Internet specific funds. "I think you'll see the Internet theme growing, but I don't know if you'll see funds that focus strictly on Internet stocks," said Dan Hallett, senior analyst at mutual fund research firm FundMonitor.com. "It would be very difficult for a fund, and the large amount of money it would hold, to invest in such a relatively small universe of stocks," he added. Investors salivating at the market performances of online retailer Amazon.Com Inc. <AMZN.O>, or Internet search companies America Online Inc. <AOL.N> and Yahoo! Inc. <YHOO.O>-- which owned the two most popular U.S. web sites in December -- can find these issues in a range of high-tech funds, but only in a limited weighting. Funds dominated by e-commerce stocks are still relatively scarce, however. "Altamira has a fund that doesn't strictly cover Internet stocks, but it's an e-commerce or e-business fund," said Hallett. "There are some funds that buy Internet stocks, but they'll also buy stocks of companies that are using the Internet to grow their business, such as Sears, Roebuck and Co. <S.N> he added. The Altamira e-business fund, which includes, but is not limited to Internet stocks, has grossed about 30 percent for investors since its C$10 inception last November. America Online, Amazon.Com, Yahoo! and Microsoft Corp. <MSFT.O> total only about 15 percent of the fund's value. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that America Online Inc. had risen into the top 10 holdings of the world's largest mutual fund, the Fidelity Magellan Fund. A range of funds are available that track the Nasdaq 100 Index are also available for the Internet-hungry. Despite the success of the fledgling Altamira fund, analysts are doubtful an isolated Internet sector could provide consistent returns for traditionally more conservative mutual fund investors. "People in the investment business are shaking their heads in disbelief at what's happening to those stocks," said Peter Brewster, editor of the Canadian Mutual Fund Advisor. "I don't think fund managers want to chase them vigorously, much less create whole new funds to buy the stocks." Brewster said science and technology funds have done well by adding Internet issues to their portfolios and that there is little reason for fund managers to create a separate Internet sector. "Sometimes I think we're getting almost to the point of gimmicks with these specialty funds," he said. "But you might see more interest in Internet specialty funds down the road, at least in several months if not a year or two." ($1=$1.52 Canadian) 18:15 01-22-99 <<